Litani River

The Litani River, the classical Leontes, is an important water resource in southern Lebanon. The river rises in the fertile Beqaa Valley, west of Baalbek, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea north of Tyre. Exceeding 140 km in length, the Litani River is the longest river in Lebanon and provides an average annual flow estimated at 920 million cubic meters. The waters of the Litani both originate and flow entirely within the borders of Lebanon. It provides a major source for water supply, irrigation and hydroelectricity both within Southern Lebanon, and the country as a whole. Etymology The Litani River is named after the Ugaritic deity Ltn (pronounced līyitānu), a seven-headed sea serpent and servant of the sea god Yam. The ī in the Lebanese name preserves the hypothesized ī in Ugaritic. The river that winds and coils like a serpent through the Beqaa Valley was believed to be the personification of the deity. History Historians in the past have claimed that the location of Biblical Misrephoth Maim, the place to which Joshua chased the various tribes after their defeat at the waters of Merom, was the river-mouth of the Litani River, but it is unlikely as the name Litani predates that of the Biblical story. The Litani was a natural frontier that prevented the Seleucids from encroaching on the Ptolemaic dominion in the Levant.